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Valor
Of all the places in the Kingdom it is widely believed that Valor is one of the easiest to live in. It is a land of plenty where the arable farm land, game filled woods and teeming rivers provide to its people. In comparison to some of its neighbouring duchies the lands of Valor lack many of the harsh extremes that other folk must suffer and so it is hardly a surprise that the capital city of Highkeep is home to the ruler of the Kingdom; King Arenti I . With its shared borders of five out of the six (excluding Moldovia ) other duchies in the Kingdom it is a multi-cultural land that has open doors to people of all nationalities, faiths and traditions. Though not without its own laws and ways, Valor is a progressive duchy and its open borders have brought diplomacy, trade and prosperity to those in a position to profit. The people of Valor and its Lords and Ladies see themselves as the shining example to the rest of the Kingdom, of what others should aspire to be and with this so too have the attitudes of the nobility of Valor been marked as the most arrogant in the land. Duchy Locations *Cities & Keep Towns **Highcliff **Lake Town **Forks **Crag Keep **The Fray **Workers Rest **Port Werth (Scavvin) **Newport (Speckled Isles) *Smaller Towns/Outposts **Regents' Landing **Bryers Port **Fensridge **Rowden Abbey **Riverend **Fort Vathis **Tradeford **Road Outpost **Merrykeep (Keep Isle) *Points of Interest **Regentwood **Regentwood Mountains **Old Forest **The Swell River **Great Lake **The Old Road **Southern Road (North) **Dead Road (North) The History of Valor 'The War of the Crown' Valor is often refered to as the Old Duchy, ''recognised as being the first established territory within the Kingdom and the original seat of power for the first King, King Gabrieel, and the Old Nobles (now called the High Nobles), some of the oldest families in the Kingdom itself. As the lands were explored Corinstand was little more than scattered villages and land holdings but were in time were united under Lord Benes and establishing the Grand Kingdom of Corinstad over 300 years ago and Benes taking the position of regent. The two kingdoms long worked alongside each other, but feuding between the two over borders and entitlements soon sparked the first war between the two; the War of the Crown. The war was swift, many of the Old Nobility supporting King Gabrieel, but the overpowering populous of the Grand Duchy was able to overthrow the kingdom of Valor and its ruler. In his wisdom Benes gathered the Old Nobility and told them to decide upon themselves who be the leader de jure, taking on the position of Duke and falling under the rule of King Benes; establishing Valor as the Kingdoms second duchy after Corinstad. The animosity already established between the competing Old Nobility and the sudden power vaccum with the death of the King and the vying for the new position of Duke soon turned to Civil War and thus Benes had managed to turn those who may challenge his rule against each other. 'The Noble Civil War' The war between the Old Nobility lasted two years until a victor and Duke was finally declared, but no actual raising of arms was done until the last six months of the war. The battles were made in court and council, wars of words and politics, alliances and assassinations, and only when the nobility felt comfortable enough to move against each other publicaly did they choose to do so. Between them and their behind closed door discussions there were now two clear sides, the noble houses alligning themselves with one orf the two coallitions; the ''House of the Doves or the Vendis Alliance. Much blood was shed in the streets of Valor and the outskirts upon the battlefields and after alll had settled the House of the Doves ''were the victors, the head of the alliance Korl Weston of the House of Weston being the person to take up the first position as Duke of Valor. The result of the Noble War would define the noble class forever; the losers if not losing everything had been greatly reduced in strength, numbers and wealth, whilst the victors had claimed the spoils of war in territory and coin. As well as defining Valor as a Dukedom it had also given birth to the Low Nobles (the defeated Noble Houses who had joined the ''Vendis Alliance) and the High Nobles (the victorious Noble Houses who had alligned as the House of the Doves). 'The Wave of Purification' In 568AE the rise of Eighth Prominar of the Holy Order would mark the start of a dark age of holy crusades against the heretic worshipers of the Fables, and so by holy decree began a Campaign that would last four years to purify the northern territories. The Progeny had over the centuries become the primary religion of both Corinstad and Valor, though its origins are believed to be from Valor and so it was, as is now, the seat of the Order. With the current Kings support the Wave of Purification marched on both the Northwood territories and area known as The Dales. The people of the Dales were not the most religious of people and so quickly adopted the Progeny faith, but the people of the Northwood had centuries of their own worship to their gods and would not so willingly convert. The inhabitants of the Northwood turned to guerrilla warfare, fighting on their own territory the massive army that was sent to the north from Valor and Corinstad. The settlement of Tomony was established as a place for the Valorian Army to coordinate their attacks from, with both land and coastal access to the settlement. Thousands were killed from both sides, but the number of forestfolk were greatly reduced as the armies pushed into the forests, though few were converted many were strung up as heritics and left to hang from the trees as warning to the other non-believers. It was a gruesome and dark war for all involved and it was only at the Prominars assassination did it finally come to an end. Questions were raised about the Prominars death, none believing the fairly savage folk having the capability to put such a feat into action, it is believed that ultimately someone considerably higher up put an end to the Prominar and the war to try and restore a time of peace. 'The War of the Duchies' The War of the Duchies was instigated by the then Duken Arenti of Valor who, along with Duke Loathar of Ashen, declared war on the Grand Duchy of Corinstad against King Tion III. Valor suffered a long stalemate against Corinstad and their lands suffered greatly where all able bodies, food and trade were going to support the war effort. After eight years the duchy had nearly bankrupt itself with its extended war, but fortunately they ultimately came out the victor and after a time of readjustment were all the more stronger for it. It was the Valorians who coerced both the Duchy of Sandsdown and the Foalish tribes into the war, the result being the conquering of Corinstad and the death of King Tion III. At the close of the war Valor, under the agreement of the Foalish, had officially recognised the territory as Foals as being its own Duchy. Politics Since the War of the Duchies Valor has become a considerably stronger nation than any before it, though still with its firm religious beliefs and cultures and traditions it has become much more open to its foreign neighbours resulting in better trade and diplomatic relations. Valor is currently at peace though there are growing concerns with the expansion of the Duchy of Foals and rumors of their slavers attacking outlying settlements on Valors borders and enslaving the peasentry. The relationship between King Arenti and the Great Amraj whilst currently on good terms is put under strain due to these reports, whilst the King does not wish to go to war on such a matter, from the outside it looks as though the Amraj is doing little to curb these actions. Amongst the Nobility there is a growing discord between the Old and New Nobility. The more progressive approach of King Arenti has granted lands and titles to a number of New Nobility that are considered foreigners ''to the Old Nobles of Valor. The largest problem for the Old Nobles being the newly formed Sandsdown Accord, an alliance of those New Nobles from the Duchy of Sandsdown who now have lands within Valor. The resistance of allowing any New Nobility dictate the trade and decisions of Valor has meant that the Old Nobility have banded together somewhat (including High and Low Houses) to ensure these New Nobles do not take too much away from the Old Houses Estates. The problem is that much of the trade done by the Old Nobility is from the Duchy of Sandsdown, with this new Accord that has formed they have begun to strike back at the Old Nobles, where though they have longstanding trade ties with Sandsdown, the New Nobles are often bound by familiy and blood. In Highcliff the newly established "Fable Plaza" had been built as a place for those with beliefs other than the Progeny are able to go and preach the gospel of their own dieties, something that was denouncend by the Prominar himself. Recently the plaza was struck during a large open religious festival and the holymen and preachers who had been there were killed in a massacre; it is believed that the Prominar had actually sanctioned the building plaza as a way to lure out heretics. The city is now a veritable melting pot of violence as small riots and attacks on members of the Holy Order and the religious buildings have begun to break out in not only Highcliff but beyond its walls as well. Caste System Old Nobles The Old Nobles are those Houses who existed during the Noble Civil War, the oldest and often wealthiest houses in not only Valor but the entire Kingdom. Though their stature differs between the High Houses and Low Houses, they are very influencial in the Kingdoms politics. High Nobles The High Nobles are made up of those Houses who had alligned themselves to the ''House of the Doves ''during the Noble Civil War and were the victors. By far the largest Houses commanding the largest personal armies, wealth and influence at court. Of them there are eight in total: *House *House *House *House *House *House *House *House Typically the head of a High House will be a count and rule over a particular county of the Duchy taking on the title of Count or Countess. Low Nobles'' The Low Nobles are made up of those Houses who had alligned themselves to the ''Vendis Alliance ''during the Noble Civil War and were defeated. Losing most of their lands, wealth and armies they have the least amount of influence at court but, due the caste system and their heritage, are still recognised as nobility. Many of the Low Houses have fallen into obscurity, a poor prospect for an alliance has often meant lack of an heir to continue the name, or as often a name being all that they are left with. Some still own smaller manors or small forts and a handful of holdings within the cities with enough loyal men-at-arms to help them defend them if need be. The life of a noble born to a Low House is but a constant struggle to return their House to prominance. Some of the more influential Low Nobles may have their own barony that they rule over and thus take on the title of Baron or Baroness. New Nobles As a way to thank those who aided within the War of the Duchies and to further solidify alliances between the great nations, King Arenti has awarded a number of lands and titles to both the duchies of Ashen and Sandsdown. Already having holdings in Valor many of the New Nobles from Sandsdown, who effectively are Valors main trade partner to the south, have been able to gain a monopoly on trade in the north. Granted titles or holdings within the Duchy of Valor has introduced a lot of new blood into the noble caste that many of the Old Houses are far from happy with. Serfs Serfs or the peasantry are at the bottom of the pile insofar as prestige, and account for 90% of the duchies populous. Typically the serf class is broken down into those who are intentured servants who worked for someone else or a freeman who may run his own farm, trade, etc. Many serfs would be divided into townsfolk or countryfolk, those who made their trade within the walls of a city or Keep Town and those who may plough the lands surrounding it in their farms and homesteads. Though whilst they may be freemen who tend to the land they are far from land owners themselves and so must often pay taxes to the lord who owns the estate or barony and fall under his authority. Tradition and Culture - Clothing Languages There are various languages throughout the land, but where they originated from you will generally find more of the populous speaking them, the most common to be found in the Duchy of Valor are: Trade Speak - The most common tongue spoken by most people within the Kingdom, named specifically as it was a language originally developed for people to trade with other nations. Valorian - The native tongue of Valor, though the majority of the serf classes no longer speak it, instead opting to teach their children Trade Speak. Valorian is more often put to use by the Nobility, especially when they wish to speak among their lessers discreetly. Sandatch - The open trade between Valor and Sandsdown have over the centuries many immigrants of the southern lands have populated the north and thus bringing their own language, though it is rarely heard outside of Highcliff and some of the coastal port towns. Many of the New Nobles will speak this language. Speck - There are a number of different dialects coming from the Speckled Isles, and after mass population from Valor its original language has been diluted, in many ways being close to Valorian. Fenthaji - The language of the Holy Order, its Disciples are taught to read and write in this language from an early age, considered to be the purest form of speech derived from Fenthu himself. Military - Favoured units